"Best restaurant in the world" is obviously a highly subjective designation. El Bulli was, at times, incredibly inventive. But it wasn't really "food", in the sense of a place where you go with friends and family to converse and enjoy a delicious meal. Ferran Adrià, while quite talented, is more of a showman than a chef and his style has spawned some of the most regrettable, pretentious crap to hit expensive plates since nouvelle cuisine. There are now an unconscionable number of restaurants serving Parmesan foam, gelled soup balls, crystallized beef, balloons filled with bouillabaisse-flavored gas, desserts shaped like sashimi (or sashimi shaped like desserts), and uncountable other art school postmodern Dadaist deconstructions posing as high culinary art. At a certain point (usually right away) it becomes gimmicky and irritating, and you yearn for coq a vin, a basket of bread and a bottle of cheap Burgundy.

Personally I'd rather skip the foam and eat at the real "best restaurant in the world", The French Laundry, whose food manages to be elegant, inventive and satisfying all at the same time.

Palladian, Anthony Bourdain seems to me to be pretty skeptical about the claims that a particular restaurant or chef is fabulous. I didn't catch him on Ferran Adria but usually he's pretty level headed.

I don't think I've been to the Summit diner but whenever I find myself in NJ I always seek out a diner.

Outside of NJ, parts of NY and parts of PA nobody else in the US does diners right.

For my money, they are the best food in the world.

There used to be one in NYC right in front of the Coliseum that had about a 20 page menu. If you wanted Greek, there were a couple pages of Greek dishes. If you wanted Italian, ditto. Chinese? Several pages. American comfort food? Great selection. And any deli selection you could imagine.

I love diners. I'll go quite a bit out of my way to go to one.

A couple years ago I went to Le Cirque in Las Vegas. Over $700 for a party of 5. Plus wine.

The food was great but the portions were miniscule. I had to stop at McDonalds on my way back to my hotel just to get some dinner.

Foodies make me ill. I've eaten all over the world, in supposedly great expensive places and greasy spoons, etc., and my favorites are always the little hidden away gems that few know about, but are trying harder.

A multi-course meal is nice, on occasion, but I'd get a bigger thrill from a good dim sum restaurant any day.

Basically, to make me "happy," there are really two choices:

A big meal, with drinks and lots of people and talk, or something quick and tasty that I can eat while walking if necessary. I don't really care what's served in either case. Surprise me.

Anyone who thinks different, as far as I'm concerned, is either egotistical or anal.

Paul: Dinner there is $400 (depending on the exchange rate). But remember people flew there to eat, and the place still lost money. I would not drop $400 on dinner, but if you are really into food I could see why you would. I know plenty of people who would spend $400 to see a championship game or a concert with great seats, so I can see how one might spend that on dinner.

I took my wife to dinner at C in Vancouver. We had the tasting menu with a wine paring. It was around $200 or so, but damn that was a great dinner.

Personally, I like a really old school steak house. The service is almost always great. Drinks are strong and tasty. Steaks are delicious. Dinner will likely cost you between $75 to $150 if you don't go crazy on the wine. But you can always go at lunch too, where it is half the price but pretty much just as good as dinner. I know a few that serve absolutely kick ass steak sandwiches at the bar for less than $20.

I was flying through Newark in February and I stopped in Ironbound (the Portuguese neighborhood next to the train station). I got a plate of stewed octopus at Iberia. It was $20 and I got a half pitcher of sangria. I highly recommend that place (they have a lot more than just octopus).

Best diner food I've had was at the Miss Worcester Diner on Southbridge St. in Worcester MA. When I lived there, they were open at 5 AM and closed at 1 PM. Breakfast all day, lunch from 11 to 1.

Best sitdown restaurant meal I ever had was for my sister's college graduation in 1972 at the Yankee Pedlar Inn in Holyoke MA. The roast beef was carved at the table from a steamship side of beef on a cart, and was tender enough to cut with a sharp glance. Desserts were brought table-side on a cart as well. Never go here on a diet.

Seriously, people. This is the culinary equivalent of trying to understand Stephen Hawking. Being flippant doesn't negate the man's impact on the culinary arts. If you're not a chef, then you really don't have a clue.

If you don't get Ferran Adria and his place in the culinary stratosphere, then you really are lost on this thread.

So what? Artists can have a negative impact on their field of endeavor. Just because someone is influential doesn't mean the influence is a good one.

"If you're not a chef, then you really don't have a clue."

LOL. So the guy fries rabbit ears and fills them with snail eggs solely for the benefit and comment of "chefs", and the rest of us aren't enlightened enough to comment? Then either he's a bigger fraud than I ever imagined or, more likely, you're deploying the weakest old crutch of the pretentious connoisseur.

No truly great artist does their work for the benefit of critics and other practitioners alone, and I believe that Adrià himself would object to your characterization.

"If you don't get Ferran Adria and his place in the culinary stratosphere, then you really are lost on this thread."

Again, artists do not work for the benefit of the guild. If you're going to present your work to the world, then you're also presenting it for criticism, both fair and unfair. No one gets immunity simply because he's famous or beloved.

I've been a serious cook for a long time, and I've eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world. I'm entitled to my opinion of Adrià (or Heston Blumenthal or Thomas Keller or Grant Achatz or José Andrés or the short order cook at the Utopia coffee shop), as is someone who has never eaten his food.

Good food is good food. I have had street food for less than a $1 that would compare to a dish at French Laundry (BTW there are some kick ass taquerías in Napa where you can get a fabulous burrito for about $6).

I have not been to El Bulli, but I assume it is as good as people say (although I respect Palladian's view on the subject). Let's face it, whether you like it or not is subjective. But to suggest, Chef Mojo, we common folk would not "get it" is the height of arrogance and a sign of insecurity on your part. Either it is good or it is not.

Thanks, Fred4Pres. I just want to clarify that I'm not saying that El Bulli wasn't "good" or a fun experience, nor am I claiming that Adrià isn't brilliant and innovative. I'm merely saying that, regardless of these things, I don't think that Adrià has been a net good influence on gastronomy, and I think that his style at El Bulli is ultimately gimmicky and a bit tiresome and does not meet my criteria for a truly great restaurant.

And I think Adrià is closing El Bulli partially because he realizes that there's nowhere to go with that particular set of tricks anymore.

Palladian, that is what I thought you meant. I am not going to blame Adrià because of some second rate imitators. But I agree with your views of the subject. I have not been to El Bulli and I doubt I would go out of my way to do so.

I would go out of my way to French Laundry...or (given I got the kids to feed too) La Luna taquería in Rutherford.

Agreed on the restaurant style. On the downside, they're expensive, though usually not that expensive! On the upside, you don't have to go through the menu trying to decide if now's the time to try something new or stick with something you know you'll like, maybe coordinating your dishes with everyone else so you can eat family style.

Just sit down and they start bringing out plates, and lots of them. A little bit of dozens of things.

The food was fun to look at, but was it food-like in the sense of being a satisfying meal? No.

The meal wasn't about the food; it was entirely about how cool and cutting-edge the chef is, and how many gadgets he has invented. Very few diners return for a second dinner, except for the hopelessly trendy.

It reminded me of the movie L.A. Story, and the scene in which Steve Martin's character makes dinner reservations at the newest, most hip, most trendy restaurant in Los Angeles. The name of the restaurant was L'Idiot.

where I live (hampton roads area), there's not much culinary excitement, but a few self owned cafes that serve various creations. I guess being a very middle class and military area, stick to your ribs, cheap food is the requirement. Foam is meant for either bathing or to fill cracks in ceilings :)

Althouse should just head down to Chicago and eat at Alinea...the same idea, much closer to home. We ate there for the first time in '08 prior to our first trip to Europe. We were planning to eat at a couple *** Michelin places and wanted a basis for comparison. To this day, it's probably the best "fine dining" meal I've ever had.